Zee News directed by NBDSA to take down videos on ‘Mehndi Jihad’
New Delhi: In a move to prevent broadcast of anti-Muslim content, the self-regulatory authority News Broadcasters and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) recently directed Zee News to take down all videos that it had aired about the purported ‘Mehndi Jihad’, clarifying that the videos violated media guidelines related to neutrality.
NBDSA, taking action against the programme aired by Zee News, said that the matter was baseless and had hateful content. The Authority has also warned Zee News and instructed it to exercise professional responsibility while broadcasting such content in future.
Furthermore, NBDSA Chairperson former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri has asked Times Now Navbharat to remove tickers on two broadcasts on ‘Love Jihad’, with the complainant stating that the tickers were communal and vilified Muslims.
It is understood that action was taken on the news channel based on a complaint filed by one Indrajeet Ghorpade (@jeetxg) after the programme was aired in October 2024.
Ghorpade has complained that Zee News’ programmes promoted the campaign of a Hindutva group’s urging Hindu women not to get Muslims to apply mehndi during the Karwa Chauth festival that is round the corner. He has alleged that the group has accused Muslims of spitting into and also mixing non-vegetarian matter into the mehndi that they apply on Hindu women.
Referring to ‘Jihad’, the complaint has stated that the group has accused the artists pretend to be Hindus as a part of a conspiracy to marry Hindu women and also plan to forcibly convert them. In addition, the group planned to police mehndi artists by checking their Aadhaar cards and performed pujas on lathis saying it would beat up artists who did not conform to its demands if the authorities did not act, Ghorpade recalled.
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Former minister C M Ibrahim announces to launch new regional party for Karnataka
Kalaburagi: Two years after being expelled from the Janata Dal (Secular), former minister C.M. Ibrahim has announced that he will launch a new regional political party in Karnataka on January 24, reported Deccan Herald.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Nava Karnataka Nirmana Andolana in Kalaburagi on Sunday, Ibrahim confirmed the birth of the new party.
The 77-year-old politician stated he would soon be meeting with other like-minded individuals to choose a symbol for the party.
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Ibrahim emphasised that the organisation would be guided by the principles of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna and the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
A veteran politician, Ibrahim served as Union Civil Aviation Minister during the tenure of H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister and later headed the Karnataka unit of the Janata Dal (Secular). He was expelled from the JD(S) in 2023 on charges of anti-party activities.
His exit from the party followed sharp differences over the JD(S) decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As the then state president of the JD(S), Ibrahim had publicly criticised the alliance, claiming it was finalised without his knowledge. He had also reportedly convened meetings of his supporters and expressed support for the INDIA bloc.
